To end the semester, second-year students in the master’s degree program at the Center for Emerging Media Design & Development had the chance to show off their project work at two showcases, one on-campus and another at Ball State’s Indianapolis Center.

These students worked in teams on four different projects, three of which were continuing efforts from the previous year. The project focus areas varied from education to sports storytelling to entertainment.

Members of the community and project partners were invited to the open house-style events to talk with students and interact with their work, including an augmented reality experience, photo booth and website demos. For on-campus EMDD students the second year is spent entirely on one project, collaborating with fellow students to solve a problem for a real-world client. This year’s clients were the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Professor Garfield Foundation, Circle of Blue and Motor MVB.

The projects provide valuable experience for students to apply their knowledge in design thinking, transmedia storytelling and human-computer interaction, including user experience and user interface design. Working in teams toward a goal also helps develop soft skills and provides an opportunity to collaborate in interdisciplinary teams, an environment that prepares EMDD students for almost any career path.